Drag
by Gabriel DeMarque
Summary: Kyo and Uo are in a racing accident. Yuki and Tohru get married. Hana and Haru are? And Uo is accused of WHAT?
1. Green light

DISCLAIMER: i dont own Fruits Basket. (nice huh? short and sweet. Please dont sue..)  
  
Drag  
  
Chapter One: Green Light  
  
His eyes flicked to the photograph he had tucked into the dash. Her gorgeous face smiling at him from beside the odometer. Finger combing bright orange hair Kyo smiled.  
  
The girl in the sleek black speed machine next to Kyo rubbed the bullet casing that hung from her rearview mirror, shot a single look at her glove box, and gunned her engine. Kyo flashed her a grin through the window and the light turned green.  
  
Tires squealed, engines roared and the pair took off. They were racing each other, and time, and passion. Their cars pushed to the limits they screamed around the turns. Uo grinned and pulled into the lead, and Kyo let her have it. A deadly blend of danger and fire and speed ran through their blood.  
  
The semi driver had been on an all night run. All night, and the last effects of the coffee he had drunk hours ago had worn off. The road ahead was deserted. It was a tiny two-way. Barely wide enough for two cars to past abreast. It had been the longest night of the driver's life, and the effects were starting to show. His eyes slid involuntarily shut and Uo and Kyo rounded the bend on the two way.   
  
"Holy shit!" Kyo gasped, hit the brakes and spun off the road. At the same moment, Uo's brakes locked, and the worst thing that could happen did. The semi jackknifed as the drives eyes flashed open, and he tried to avoid the black sports car that was flying toward him.  
  
Glass shattered, brakes squealed, metal screamed as it ripped apart. Kyo couldn't think, couldn't breath and the last thing he saw before the front of his car was crumpled into a tin can against a tree that didn't really feel like moving, was Uo's picture on the dash, and the blood that splattered as glass flew back into his face, his hands, his chest. Then unending darkness, and Uo's gut wrenching, heart tearing, earth shattering scream.  
  
Pain ripped through ever inch of her form. She screamed. She screamed and screamed until the only thing that came was a raw pain in her throat and harsh breath. The side of semi loomed in her windshield. Uo suddenly knew that this was it, the car was out of control. The Yankee threw her arms in front of her face and glass tore through the skin. Blood splattered backwards into her face and her eyes. Her arms dropped into her lap, and she tilted her face till she could see Kyo's car. She could see him through the open window, slumped over the steering wheel, blood slipping down his cheek. Some how it didn't seem real, Uo left like she was living a dream, a horrible nightmare-ish dream. She tugged the chain to the bullet casings, and pushed open the crumpled side door. She tumbled onto the cement; unconsciousness came like Kyo, fast, hard, and ruthless. Blackness took hold and Uo knew no more of what happened.  
  
Red lights flashed overhead as Kyo opened his eyes. Vague sounds filled his head battling for a place among the pain. Paramedics crouched over him. Colors blurred and his eyes refused to focus. A low growl came, catlike, from him as he struggled fruitlessly against the pain. He froze eyes wide. Uo.  
  
Thoughts rose like a whirlwind as he reeled back into the darkness from whence he came.   
  
As Kyo struggled, Uo was being lifted unconscious and battered onto a stretcher. Sirens screamed out their electric lullaby as they rushed toward the sterile sanctuary that was Last Hope Medical Center.  
  
Three days later Uo woke up to the harsh whiteness of a hospital room. The walls glowed under the stiff white overhead lighting. Everything smelled sterile as if life wasn't happening in this bleak room. She didn't remember the accident. Just brief and fuzzy memories of an orange-headed boy slumped over the steering wheel, the smell of gasoline, and the glow of twisted headlights. Kyo! her thoughts screamed as she sat bolt upright. The steady tick of the heart monitor jumped as her heart raced. Uo's blue eyes locked an icy glare on various sensors in the room. Then she began to peal the plastic from her chest, her arms, all the suction cups popping as they came away from her skin. Machines whirred wildly as numbers suddenly dropped. The background tick turned into an alarmed whine. Everything was screaming. She died. she died. she died.  
  
The light outside Uo's door in ICU whirled. Nurses barked orders, doctors came at a run. White coats hung on the shoulders of the various doctors that rushed into the room as monitors went berserk. The array of mechanical voices in the room was stunning. A veritable choir of them. There was one thing that every voice had in common, something that pounded through Tohru's heart. Bouncing out of rhythm, painfully out of rhythm, with the steady bum bump of her heartbeat, as she stood just outside the room the doorway obscured by doctors. The choir screamed: She's dead. She's dead.  
  
She's dead.  
  
Tohru fell to her knees, sobbing for all she was worth. Her hands pressed over her eyes, hot tears rolled down her cheeks and through her fingers. Shigure stood in the doorway of the fire exit, stunned by what he was hearing. Uo was gone. It couldn't register. He refused to let it register. Lose the only person who could keep Kyo in check. It seemed impossible. But it was possible, painfully so. She was gone. Yuki too was paralyzed. Thought processes coming to a complete stand still. Seconds ticked by in slow motion as he watched Tohru cry. Everything was thrown into sudden, sharp, relief. He held no special love for the Yankee, but she had become a part of the Sohma household, as much so, as Kyo had. Their smart mouths, fiery attitudes. Uo had become a necessary part of family life. She was the only one who could take on Kyo and match his foul mouth word for word. If she dies, Yuki shook his head, but there was no if. Uo was dead.  
  
Uo glared at the bandages that wrapped her ribs, her hands, her arms. She didn't like hospitals. People died in hospitals. She would take her chances elsewhere. Silver pulled the skin of her arm up as she pulled the IV from her arm. Pain was pinpricking into her nerves an annoyance, just like the screaming machines around her. The tip of the needle had just slid free of the skin when the medical team came running in. She had made short work of the various electronic gizmos, and was rummaging through the locker in search of clothing. Actual clothing. Not the damnable hospitals gowns with their open backs. The only clothes to be found were the ones from the accident. Cleaned and pressed but still packed with the memories. The smell of blood and gasoline. Completely revolting, but her only hope at a desperate escape. She spun, blue eyes wide and angry. Doctors stormed into the room like paratroopers. Uo had issues with hospitals. And doctors. And needles. Therefore she was now in a pretty violent struggle with her white-coated guard dogs.  
  
Tohru's head jerked up at the sound of familiar and vividly colorful language came flowing out of the open door.   
  
Her head popped up, "She's alive." she shrieked happily. Yuki and Shigure both took a step forward, toward the room. Uo was alive. Very, very alive.   
  
Then a second strand of curses. Three heads jerked toward the end of the hall. The curses came from an orange-headed neko in another sterile room. Tohru laughed in delight. They were alive. The both of them. Tohru rushed to the door eyes wide at what she saw behind it.  
  
Her blonde friend was cornered as doctors tried to coax her back into the hospital bed. Tohru walked in just as a massive fist fight was about to break out. "Uo?" she asked, clearly wondering what was going on. Uo jerked to meet her friends eyes. Blue eyes wide as she saw the tears on her friends cheeks.  
  
The clearest resemblance was to a cornered animal, wild and afraid. Tohru was afraid; to see Uo scared was scarier than most anything. Uo backed into the corner pressing herself against the bare white walls. Tohru stepped slowly toward her.  
  
"Uo, can you understand me?" she asked, her chipper voice soothing.  
  
"No. I flipped my car and got deaf." the grudging patient gave up.  
  
Tohru smile, "Get back into bed. Please Uo. For me."  
  
The Yankee's jaw tightened, her fists clinched and through a sheer act of will she forced herself to calm down. She walked stiffly over to the bed, glaring death at the doctor's, and sat down. "How's Orange-top?" she asked, eyes locked on the tiles at her feet.  
  
Tohru smiled and sat down next to the blonde. "I don't know. He woke up a little after you did. I haven't been to see him yet."  
  
Uo's adrenalin spike was over and fatigue and pain were edging their way into her bones, "Oh." she whispered. Tohru's sweet smile still shown clear, but the room slowly started to spin. Revolving slowly around an almost stable axis, Uo. She swallowed resisting the urge to gag. "The rooms spinning right?"  
  
"Actually its spinning left." came, drawled, from the doorway. Tohru and Uo looked over their shoulders at the perverted novelist. "How are you doing?" Shigure asked in a moment of seriousness.  
  
Uo grinned, "Why? Were you worried?" she shot at him.  
  
Shigure raised a hand, flapping it at the wrist, "Not a bit." his sing-songing words dancing around the room drilling tiny screws into Uo's brain. Tohru gently pushed Uo back into the uncomfortable hospitable pillows.   
  
"You need to rest." she said softly.  
  
Uo grimaced, and sat up. "I can rest when I'm dead." she grumbled.  
  
Tohru and Shigure laughed softly and forced Uo to lie back. "Just go and try to rest." Tohru pleaded and Uo complied reluctantly. Alone in the bright darkness of the white room, Uo lay in her bed, the small light above her bed glowing faintly blue, she hurt to the very marrow of her bones. Her thoughts were all for Kyo. And she stared at the ceiling, and she remembered, and she cried.  
  
Tohru walked into room 344 only to find a very angry Kyo sitting in his bed and swearing up a storm. Yuki was in the hall, waiting. Joined by Shigure who was afraid to go into the room. Tohru was all smiles and sunshine. Kyo glared at her. "When the hell can I get out of here?" he grumbled before she had even walked all the way into the room.   
  
Laughing Tohru sat on the edge of the bed, "Not yet." She could be irritatingly motherly. Kyo glowered. There were no specifics to the look; it was just a general, world encompassing, glower.   
  
He had these glowering eyes locked on the window halfway across the room when he broke the silence next, "I heard Uo flatline." he muttered. Tohru smiled, looking softly down at the orange-headed neko. "Tell me it was a fluke." he said and looked up into Tohru's face. Pleading with her to tell him anything but the truth. His eyes shown with hurt, an ache that reached to the very center of his fiery soul. And Tohru was glad of what she didn't have to tell him.  
  
"She didn't die. I promise. She'll be up and around soon."  
  
Kyo cleared his throat, "Good. What about my car?"  
  
Yuki stood in the doorway, "Both cars were totaled." his voice was almost a monotone as he spat out the fact.  
  
Kyo rubbed the back of his neck, "Uo's not going to like this." he muttered.   
  
Tohru laughed softly, "No, she won't." there was a short pause, and Kyo braced himself for the scolding, "I'm glad you're okay, but do you have any idea how stupid that was?" Her eyes were soft with concern, but there was a hint of steely mother in her voice.   
  
"Don't mother me alright." Kyo growled rolling over to face the wall. "I know already. It was stupid. I was stupid." Tohru touched his shoulder, and he shrugged it off. "Leave me alone." Tohru nodded and stood up to go. She didn't like to leave him, especially with him upset. Yuki frowned at the other boy. Something was going on here, that none of them knew about. Tohru walked out of the room.  
  
"You want some breakfast?" she asked Yuki, smiling half-heartedly.   
  
Yuki would have laughed, if the situation hadn't been so serious. "I would love breakfast Miss Honda." he said in that soft voice of his. They left, walking down the bleached halls, harsh white light cast their shadows against the walls. Shigure watched them leave and smiled, symptoms of love floated all around. A smile tugged at his mouth, a hidden smile. One of the nurses smiled at him, and he smiled back. He was starting to like hospitals, all the pretty nurses wondering around in short skirts. Chuckling softly he looked in on Uo, then walked down the hall to peek in on Kyo.  
  
After seeing to it that both patients were in bed and behaving, he skipped down the hall. Everything was going to turn out. Uo and Kyo were alive, they would be coming home to destroy his house in a few weeks, and there was that sweet scent of romance in the air. Amazing how things turned out.  
  
Kyo lay in bed staring at the ceiling and wondering how Uo was. It was crazy really to be thinking about her. It was his fault, the race, this mess. It was all his fault. He moaned, half in real pain and half at his own sheer stupidity, and ripped the pillow from beneath his head and smothered the cry in its feathers. Except it wasn't even real feathers, it was foam something. Which just depend the stab of pain that ran through the shimmering twisting thing that some people called a soul. Uo was never going to forgive him. And even more than that, he would never forgive himself. He had hurt her. Deeply. Sure there had been fistfights and such, but never anything like this. This was an insurmountable hurt. He lay there, under his pillow and wished the earth would open and swallow him up. No, he deserved a fate worse than that; he deserved hell on earth. Being doomed to be a cat for all eternity, being flayed alive, torn apart by wild horses, forced to listen to the Brady Bunch theme song forever. He couldn't think of a fate that was bad enough. With a sigh he shut his eyes and prayed that sleep would take him quickly.  
  
Uo also lay awake, though she was thinking about many other things. She did however blame herself for what happened. She had provoked him, pushed things too far, and here they both were, in a hospital. Swearing she rolled over. She wasn't going to sleep like this, and she sure as hell wasn't in a position to go on a walkabout. Kyo crossed her mind, and she realized that she hadn't asked how he was. Condition wise. She made a thin whimper as her body protested the movement. She would have to get Tohru to tell her about him tomorrow. A scarlet blush stained her cheeks, that would be embarrassing. Uo's thoughts turned again to the crash, and the drugs took hold as she played it over in her head, sending her to a sweet, empty, dreamless sleep. 


	2. Skid pad

DISCLAIMER: okay okay. so i DON'T own Fruits Basket. i do in fact own most of this plot. though at least a small portion is taken from everything and everyone i have ever met. and i may not do a lot of things, but give credit where credit is due is one thing that i do. anyways on to the much "annticipated" story.  
  
But first a word from your author: This is to all of you who reviewed. I would name you all; but i cant remember all your names. Sorry. And a thousand epologize about my horrible spelling. *bows repeatedly*  
  
Chapter Two: Skid Pad  
  
A week later they had taken off most of the gizmos hooked up to Uo and told her that she could go down to see Kyo if she wanted. The doctors were surprised at the rapid rate at which the two were improving.   
  
Uo had learned from Tohru that Kyo had a broken leg, as well as a pair of broken ribs, multiply lacerations, and a rather extraordinary black eye. Kyo had gotten information out of the doctors, in the form of threatening them until they gave it up, and learned that Uo had severe lacerations to her lower arms, bruising around the abdomen, and a hairline fracture to her left ulna. Which was incredible considering the accident she had been involved in.   
  
He was asleep when she walked into the room, IV stand holding most of her weight. She had demanded "Real clothes" and the hospital had to comply or she was threatening to run around naked. "I might as well be in this expletive expletive gown." she had said at the very top of her voice as she threw her water pitcher at the nurse, who retreated instantly and returned later with some of her clothes. So Uo made her entrance into Kyo's room in jeans and a hospital gown. She smiled at the neko's sleeping form, and wondered how much trouble she would get into if she dumped the contents of his water pitcher onto him. She reached for it and heard the boy growl.   
  
"I don't give a damn if your injured; you dump that on me and I'll kick your ass." he said opening one eye and looking at the blonde ex-gangster.   
  
Uo smiled, "You couldn't take me before, and you can't take me now. Beaten up as I am." He sat up with a chuckle, looking at the pretty blonde. Uo sat down and silence stretched for a minute.   
  
"Uo..I," Kyo stuttered, and Uo stared at him with soft eyes. Then she hugged him, and he wrapped his arms around her as she buried her head in his neck. "God Uo, I'm so sorry." he whispered into her soft white throat. Tohru and Yuki looked in the window just then, and saw the embrace. Tohru's eyes widened as she turned to look at Yuki. Who shrugged as Shigure went singing down the hall behind them.  
  
Uo held tight to Kyo, clinging to him as if he was her only life-line. She sobbed into him, and he held her tight, rocking back and forth and muttering sweet nothings to her. He whispered all the fears he had talked to himself merely a few nights ago, holding her, and begging for forgiveness. Long minutes passed, as Tohru and Yuki watched from the window wondering how long this had been going on, and how they had missed it. Uo leaned back finally, and Kyo wiped the tears from her face, that awkward little smile of his played on his lips. A soft little smile beat its way onto Uo's beautiful face. "Don't blame yourself orange top. Its as much my fault as it is yours." she muttered, and before the situation could deteriorate any further Yuki cleared his throat from the door, and the pair went flying to opposite sides of the room. Tohru laughed behind her hand at the pair.  
  
Uo glowered from the corner and Kyo glowered from the bed, and Tohru and Yuki just smiled. "The doctors say that you can go home next week. That is if you're cuts are healed enough Uo. That's why were here by the way, the doctors want to remove the bandages." Yuki said with a smile. Uo rubbed her wrists, half worried about the scars that the "doctors" had said they couldn't do anything about. Kyo caught her eye from across the room and winked at her; sending her a secret message of encouragement. With a nod Uo walked out, Tohru smiled and linked arms with her talking softly as they left the room. Yuki stood watching Kyo with a superior all knowing smile.  
  
"What the hell are you looking at you damn rat?" Kyo barked, glaring at him.   
  
"Nothing." Yuki said, shaking his head.  
  
"Damnit, tell me!!" the hotheaded cat growled.   
  
Yuki smiled, and walked out of the room leaving a cursing neko behind.  
  
Uo walked back into her room like a woman condemned, she really hated doctors. They smiled their phony smiles at her as she walked into the sterile room. She shut the door closing herself in and Tohru and Yuki out. Tohru blinked in surprise as the heavy door slammed closed in her face. Yuki shook his head slowly and wrapped a slender arm around her shoulders, "There are some things that you must handle on your own. Miss Arisa seems to need to do this. Come on, we can wait for her here." he guided the naïve girl to some seats across the hall.   
  
Uo stood just inside the door, watching the young male nurse with a steely gaze. She took a deep breath then walked over to the table, ready to unwrap this piece of history and the scars that would hurt forever. With slow, undaunted steadiness the nurse began to unwrap the bandages, Uo watched with a morbid fascination as pale pink skin was revealed as a tapestry of bright red. From the tiny lines on the top of her hands to the deeper ones on the outsides of her arms. She grimaced remembering the glass peeling away from the windshield and shredding into her. Pain pinged through her arm as the wreck replayed in slow-mo. It took agonizing minutes for the bandages to come undone and float to the floor. Uo sat in a dark haze staring at the arms that weren't her arms that lay in her lap, mocking her with their flaws. "Wrap them again." she growled, not wanting to look at them anymore.  
  
"But they're finished healing." the doctor said, looking them over. "And they healed beautifully, considering the conditioning they were in." he commented.  
  
Uo looked up eyes ablaze. "Damnit wrap them!!" she half-yelled, throwing her resentment at them like knifes.  
  
The nurse looked at the doctor who shrugged his consent. Nodding the nurse began to wrap new linens around Uo's arms. Eternity past as his hands twirled bandage around her mangled skin. The nurse tied off the binding and they left Uo all alone in the pale room with nothing but her mind to keep her company. She stood slowly, the look on her face like that on a woman who had just learned she had days to live, walking out of the room, she swore that she would get out of her the first chance she got. To hell with the tests they wanted to run, to hell with it all, she was a going to get out of this sterilized prison cell.   
  
  
  
The door slammed open and Tohru and Yuki started apart. Uo barely spared them a glance as she stormed down the hall to the toward the nurses station.  
  
"I'm checking out!!" she yelled, slamming her wrapped fist into the Formica counter. "I don't care what you have to do, I want to be out of here by tomorrow morning!!" she yelled. "Got it?!" her voice tore through the nurses like a hurricane through stained glass. She reached across the desk and caught the nurse there by the collar. "Understand?" growling Uo seemed to be channeling her old Yankee tendencies. The nurse was pulled half way across her workstation and was nodding rapidly, eyes wide and frightened. Uo shoved her backward into her swivel chair, the nurse spun 'round, and Uo watched her satisfied that her order would be carried out. Tohru and Yuki stared at the blonde in astonishment, and as fast as she had stormed down the hall, she walked back, leaving startled patients in her wake. Nurses scooted out of her way, patients turned and ran (practically) and security guards glowered at her. Uo glared back at them as she walked. Stopping in front of her friends she scowled at them. "I refuse to stay in this place any longer." she growled, "Damnit, this is killing me." She would have continued to rant, but at just that moment Shigure and Hana walked up.   
  
"Danger: Uo on the Warpath." Hana commented in her monotone. Uo shot her a glare, as Shigure chuckled.  
  
Shigure smiled, "So how is our little patient today?" he asked earning himself a death look that she usually reserved for Kyo.  
  
"Angry as hell." the Yankee growled, scowling even more deeply.   
  
"What's wrong? The food getting to you?" Shigure smirked.  
  
Tohru stepped in about then, "Uo hates hospitals, and doctors."  
  
"And cops and clerks, and bus drivers." Kyo's voice rang down the hall; there the redhead stood crutches planted firmly on the tile floor.   
  
Uo turned to glare at him, "You make it sound as if I hate the whole human race."  
  
"Don't you?" sarcasm dripped from his words, a newfound habit for the boy.   
  
Uo half grinned, "Not all of it." she growled, but the fight had gone out of her words. Kyo continued to walk toward them, the crutches making a muffled clack, clack noise against the multi-colored, industrial strength, government issue flooring. His bright orange hair was disheveled, a flyaway of flames, toping off a handsome face, and a strong set of shoulders.  
  
  
  
Uo couldn't believe that it had only been two years since the Sohma family curse had been lifted. So much had changed since then. Tohru and Yuki had finally confessed their feelings for each other. Kyo had disappeared and come back someone totally different, he had gained at least three inches, and added muscle to an already gorgeous body. Wherever he had been it had changed him, inside and out. He had gained confidence, and sarcasm and depth, but he could still be the shallow, hot-tempered youth that the Sohmas knew and loved, or at least liked.   
  
Hana had graduated from high school early and started at college. Shigure had written two more novels, both smutty romances. Akito had died, (tragic really) and Hatori had taken over the family until Yuki was ready to seize the lead. Tohru was still working hard at school, and at her job. The rest of the Sohma family had settled into their new routines. And life went on.   
  
Kyo smiled that awkward little smiled of his, as Hana locked her monotone on him. Uo half-grinned as Tohru beamed. Shigure had that tiny smug grin on his face, and Yuki just stood there his face like stone. The way Kyo looked at her made Uo's insides flutter, though there wasn't a chance in hell she would have told him that. Ever. This wasn't anything in the world that would make her tell him. Except maybe almost dieing in a tragic car accident. That might do it. Yeeah. Uo half grimaced for no apparent reason. it was almost painful to think about him. Anyone with two good eyes (actually you could probably be blind) could see that he was still wound up about Tohru. It was obvious in every move he made, in the way he treated her, the way he was always so gentle around her, like she was made of glass. Made somewhere deep inside, under the cold, sassy blonde gangster, there was a girl who still had a touch of Cinderella complex. She was still a woman after all. A growl slipped through her lips.   
  
Tohru shot her friend a look of concern. "Are you ribs starting to bother you again?" she asked, in that sunshine-y voice of hers.  
  
With a smile the blonde shook her head no. It wasn't her ribs that were itching her.   
  
Kyo stood on his crutches watching the emotions that flicked ever so slightly over Uo's face. A frown pulled at his mouth. It still pressed on him that he had almost gotten her killed. Not that she would ever admit it, as far as she was concerned it had been her idea all along. If there had been a way, she would have been his a long time ago. She had Cinderella complex, and he was dieing to be her Charming Prince. 


	3. Power shift

Disclaimer: I don't own anything. Not anything. Except my car. And this loose plotline. But thats about it. Yep, thats it. My car and my plot. *sob*  
  
A/N: Thank you all for your reviews!! I love you!  
  
Chapter Three: power shift  
  
A week and two broken doors later Kyo and Uo were once again at home, squabbling over breakfast, bickering at lunch, bellowing through supper. They were back, and the rest of the family had the headaches to prove it. Except things hadn't quite settled back to the usual. Uo and Kyo spent more and more time on the roof, together and separately. Tohru and Yuki had frequented the woods, alone. Shigure just watched and smiled smugly at the little romantic things that floated past his door. Or were yelled through half the house. Depending on the couple you wanted to talk about. Uo had been living in the spare room since she had been having trouble paying her rent, and the room tended to spin with fury and heat. Darling feelings floating around, as well as the hostile love that was Kyo.   
  
Uo climbed down the ladder and dropped to the floor with a quiet thud. Tohru stood there tray in hands, looking surprised to see the person she was looking for standing right in front of her. The gangster slid an arm around the ladder that led to the roof, and smiled at Tohru. Tohru had been on her way to bring food to the blonde. "You rang?" Uo drawled, relieving her friend of her burden.  
  
"I was just worried, you weren't at dinner," the sunshiny girl didn't add the again even though it was true.  
  
Uo shrugged and started eating, ignoring the silverware, "Sorry bout dat. Was tinkin'" she said around the mouthful of food.   
  
"You're doing a lot of that these days." Yuki said, walking down the hall. "And all of it on the roof." his voice was like it always was, cold.  
  
Uo swallowed "You gotta point?" the gangster asked, arching a fine eyebrow. "Or are you just running that pretty little mouth of yours?" she watched him bristle and smiled on the inside. It was a game with her, making him growl like that. Her and Kyo had a bet running on who would push him to strangle one of them first.  
  
"What's going on between you and Kyo?" Tohru asked suddenly.  
  
Uo stood, an apple in one hand, and a smirk on her face. Walking past Yuki she pointed a slim finger back at the girl, "That, is none of you business."  
  
"So there is something!" Yuki said, but the tall blonde was already wandering down the stairs at the far end on the hall. His eyebrows met in the middle of his forehead with an almost audible snap. Tohru looked a little worried too, but only because she knew the pair. They lived fast. Uo had always lived that way, Kyo had been more recent, but he had picked it up rapidly. The Yankee was so bad that when Shigure had asked her if she smoked she had replied, "You name it, I've done it," and it wasn't a lie.   
  
Tohru picked up her tray and headed back to the kitchen. She worried about them in an emotional way. They would become another link in a long (if not unending) chain of emotional ruination. They broke people's hearts, and they liked it. Her normally bright face was darkened slightly by her thoughts. With her hands wrapped around the handles of the tray she entered the highly illuminated kitchen. "You don't think that they're...." she asked Yuki, who stood behind her.   
  
He wrapped an arm around her waist. "I don't know," he whispered. "But I'd assume they are. Them being the people that they are." He slid his hand across her stomach, making her heart race.  
  
Shigure walked in, "Tohru, Tohru what's for breakfast?" he asked, eyes half shut.   
  
"I think you mean dinner." Yuki said, not moving. She was the only thing he wasn't going to move about. "It's the middle of the evening, you slept through dinner." he drawled.  
  
Blinking the writer wandered farther into the room, "Oh the inhumanity!"  
  
Tohru smiled over her shoulder at him, "I'd be happy to make you something though."  
  
"Oh sweet beauty that is Tohru. You are my sun in this desolate place." Shigure said, kissing the girls hand, with the air of a master Player. Yuki growled at him. Tohru slid out of his arms and started to fix the author a dinner. Or breakfast, as the case may be. Yuki stood watching the love of his life, cooking diner and smiled. He couldn't wait for the sixteenth.   
  
Uo walked into Kyo's room, not bothering to knock, and found him stretched out, shirtless, staring at his ceiling, the cast still affixed to his leg. The door closed with a quite snap and leaning against the door she looked him over. He was gorgeous even with the bandages around his abs. She shook her head, blonde hair glittering. "Sorry I took the roof." she said, smiling. He half rolled over to look at her.  
  
"That's fine. I hadn't named all the ceiling tiles yet." Kyo tapped a finger against the bed and Uo walked over to him. Tugging her down, Kyo kissed her hard. "Do you have any idea how bad I wanted that." he whispered, lips brushing against hers. Uo's stomach tightened into a solid knot of want as she nodded. Oh how she knew. "Now what do you want to do about it?" he said, sliding a finger under her bra-strap.  
  
"Stop." she said, scooting back then stood. "Don't make me want you." she whispered.   
  
Kyo propped himself up on his elbow. "You lost me." he said, his red hair falling into his eyes.   
  
The Yankee sat back down, "I already want you."  
  
Kyo just looked at her, confused as hell.  
  
Uo was at a loss for words, How could she tell him that she was in like with him, when she knew that he was still in love with her best friend. He smiled at her, and slid his fingers through her hair. "I don't understand you, but you are the most beautiful thing I've ever seen."   
  
Uo gave up on explanations and pressed a kiss to his smiling lips. His arms slid around her and he leaned back into the pillows, cradling her against his chest. Uo's hands slid into his hair, her fingers twinning there as Kyo flicked the button on her jeans. By this time basically the only thing in Uo's blonde head was Kyo, and all she really wanted was for him to fuck her right then and there. He was good at that sort of thing. Smirking Kyo slid a hand up her abs, smooth skin rippled under the touch as cotton shifted against the back of his hand. Desire was almost audible as he tugged her harder to him, Uo felt every muscle in her body scream for him, and Kyo knew exactly what he was doing to her.  
  
Shigure opened the door silently and stood, half aghast at the situation. For a moment he just stood there, wondering what to do. The most tempting option was to go get his Polaroid and blackmail them later. The right thing to do would be to announce himself. It was a hard decision, and the dog took a moment to decide, all the while, watching the curves of Uo's body. The decision was made for him when the sound of a thin whimper came floating from the general direction of the pair.   
  
Shigure sent them a sly look. "Am I interrupting something?"   
  
Glares went flying at the speed of sound, and Shigure giggled.  
  
The pair went flying, Uo hit the far wall with an audible thump and Kyo fell out of his bed, though the floor did a marvelous job of breaking his fall. "Sorry to break up the party kids, but Miss Honda is looking for you." the author chuckled, "Nice panties by the way Uo. Blue is really your color." Two heavy objects flew at his head about this moment, forcing the man to lean back to avoid being hit. "I'm hurt!" he exclaimed. "Carry on." he laughed and scurried down the hall. The lovers looked at each other for a moment and shrugged, neither had a clue as to what Tohru wanted. Uo walked back around the bed to help her fallen neko to his feet. Kyo pulled the blonde down to him and kissed her, long hard and passionately, 'til she was breathless with it. Then let her help him up. "Might as well see what Tohru wants." he muttered, and pressed a kiss to her throat. He couldn't keep his hands off her when they were alone. Uo leaned away from him and handed him his crutches. Slipping silently out the door, she scolded herself mentally. To think that he love her was ridiculous, he had better things to do than to waste emotional energy on her. The only time either of them had said the dreaded "l word" was right after sex. And everyone knows that that never counts. With a sigh she started down the stairs, looking back only long enough to catch a glimpse of Kyo pulling a shirt on. They would meet Tohru, but separately, even if they were in the room together. The Yankee sighed, and put aside thoughts of love, and instead focused on what Tohru might want to see them for.   
  
Tohru was standing very stilly in the dining room, two of her best friends, she just couldn't believe it really, almost couldn't stand it. She loved them both so much that seeing them together was breaking her heart. They were so hard on the emotional aspects of life; she just didn't want one of them to end up heart broken. And she knew one of them would. Uo walked in, her t-shirt clung to her like a second skin, black as coal against the paleness of her hair. Her ragged jeans scraped against the floors with a faint whoosh, the pad of bare feet nearly silent. Tohru smiled at her, and the blonde sent back a mischievous grin. "What's this all about?" Tohru laughed softly at the bluntness that surrounded her friend.   
  
"Wait, for Kyo." Tohru whispered, and Uo shrugged. Whether or not Kyo was there made no difference to her, or at least that was what she was going to tell herself. Kyo wandered in, as if on cue, his crutches making a distinctive clack, clack, even though the floor was carpeted.  
  
"You ladies talking about me?" he asked, slipping a little charm into his voice. He had gotten good at that too. The neko had become a real ladies man.   
  
"Don't get cocky Orange-top!" Uo barked, flopping down next to the table.   
  
He stood there looking at the pair, with that awkward smile still on his face. "Fine fine. You wanted to see me?" he asked smiling at the brunette.  
  
Tohru blushed slightly, "I just," she broke off, "I just want to make sure neither one of you gets hurt. I love you both so much." this time it was her voice that broke, Uo stood and hugged the girl tight to her.   
  
"Oh sweetie." she whispered, "don't worry. There's nothing to worry about." she was looking over Tohru's shoulder at Kyo and he saw the twinkle of a tear in her eye. "Its alright love. Its alright." Tohru laughed softly into the cotton of her friend's shirt.   
  
"I couldn't stand it if you hurt each other." she said softly, and this time it was Uo's turn to chuckle.  
  
"Dear heart, we hurt each other everyday."  
  
Kyo walked over and laid a hand on Tohru's shoulder, "And I have the scares to prove it." he muttered, making the naïve girl between them laugh. His cinnamon eyes met sparkling green ones over their friend. They whispered of something untouchable these green eyes did, and it both spooked and enticed him. Uo was hiding something from him, and he could see it there, and he had the suspicion that it was the same thing he hid from her. They stood there a moment longer, merely gazing at each other.   
  
Tohru smiled waveringly and dried her eyes, Uo smiled softly at her friend, and Kyo nodded slightly. "Oh dear. I need to get dinner started." Tohru said suddenly, slipping off quickly to the kitchen to use her talents. Uo and Kyo just stood there looking at each other. With a smile and a nod they went their separate ways. Uo walked out the front door and Kyo headed up the stairs to the roof. Bright cinnamon eyes watched blonde hair disappear into the woods.  
  
"Where are you going?" he asked her, watching her slip off. The sun dropped from the sky, and the moon rose, as if some invisible rope lashed them together and kept them apart. Like me and the Yankee, He thought wishing that she was here with him, and remembering the dozen times she'd been up here. Tohru and Yuki had gotten together, he had disappeared and she had started coming up here. Maybe she had missed him, or maybe she had just liked the view. He might never find out. The sun sank down setting the sky ablaze like hellfire and fury, and Tohru called him down to dinner. Kyo went down half unwillingly, wanting to sit on the roof till Uo came back. Wanting to watch her come back, wanting to stay with her on the roof all night. Tohru called again. "Coming." he half grumbled climbing down the ladder into the half darkness that was the house.  
  
Tohru, Yuki, Shigure and Kyo sat around the low table. Silence had the room in its icy grip and didn't seem willing to let it go. Kyo's eyes kept flicking to the clock on the wall. They were almost done with dinner and Uo hadn't shown yet. Kyo was getting worried, Tohru was starting to fret, Yuki was trying to convince Tohru that everything was fine, and Shigure was eating and making sounds of contentment. "I'm done." Kyo said suddenly standing and taking his plate to the kitchen, the sound of his footsteps echoed up the stairs. They all knew he was headed up to the roof, and that he was worried. What none of them understood was why he was denying his feeling for the girl.   
  
Shigure shook his head, "What those two need is a push in the right direction. They need to make a 'llllllooooooooooove connection.'" he drew out the word love till it was positively annoying, then Yuki smacked him, and he continued, "Seriously. They need somebody to shove them together. They need me."  
  
Tohru smiled and began to clear the dishes, "I think we need to leave them alone. Let them work this out on there own." her voice was soft and sweet. And the two men just looked at her. "They need time, that's all. They're both so afraid of getting hurt that they can't just jump into this. Just leave them be, they'll straighten things out between them." she said, and was confident in it.   
  
Uo didn't show up at the house the next morning or for the next few days. Tohru was use to this behavior, Uo sometimes went of by herself, and came back in a few days, a week tops. Kyo knew she did that too, but he was still worried, and angry. By the end of the second day he had stopped eating altogether. By the end of the third day he refused to come out of his room. By the end of the week Tohru was more worried about what Kyo was doing than where Uo was.   
  
On the thirteenth Uo finally showed back up at the breakfast table, sitting there with a smug grin and a black eye. Tohru squeal and hugged the girl rocking her backward. Uo laughed, "Is there something to eat around here? I'm starving." Tohru just chuckled and went skipping of to the kitchen.  
  
"Kyo Yuki Shigure!! Uo's home!!" the Yankee heard her friend yell, and three sets of footsteps on the stairs. Two dark brunettes and a redhead poked into the dining room. Kyo looked about to blow his stack, face redder than fire, and the flames of hell burning in his eyes. Yuki looked relieved, but more for the sack of the sanity of the family than for her personal safety. And Shigure promptly swept the tall blonde into a massive hug, making Kyo growl deep in his throat. Uo laughed, but it was forced and as he spun her, bright green eyes caught cinnamon ones and a promise to met him on the roof was exchanged. Kyo nodded and walked off, to wonder through the kitchen, snagging the milk carton from the fridge and making his way slowly to the roof, his crutches making their echoing clack clack against the flooring. Uo was practically force-fed breakfast, and as soon as she could she got to the roof.   
  
"Hey." she said and sat down next to him. Silence stretched between them as they watched Yuki and Tohru leave for school. Kyo wasn't ready to go back, and Uo was reluctant to leave him. Their eyes were locked on the pair as they walked down the path. Kyo was jealous of Yuki, he had gotten everything he wanted. Uo was jealous too, but mostly because the brunette had Kyo's heart, and didn't even want it. Pride and vanity kept their lips sealed.  
  
"So," Kyo broke the silence after Tohru and Yuki had disappeared into the woods. "Where were you?" he asked leaning back against the cool tiles. Uo was sitting cross legged, and leaned forward, resting an elbow against her knee and her chin resting on her palm.  
  
"You never cared before. Why the sudden interest?" Uo asked, flicking her eyes back.  
  
Kyo was looking straight at her. "We were worried." and sat up sharply, staring at the girl. "Damnit I was worried."   
  
Uo ached to believe him, "I was just seeing some of my old friends, visiting some of the old haunts. That's all. Innocent fun." she said with a shrug.  
  
"That black eye doesn't exactly support your story." he said, and ran his fingers through her hair, brushing it away from her face. "You went back to them didn't you."  
  
She leaned over and kissed him softly. "That ain't your business Mac," she whispered.  
  
Kyo caught her arm pressing hard, his fingers digging into her flesh; Uo grimaced trying hard not to whimper. Pulling his fingers away a scarlet stain blossomed across the white linen wrappings. An eyebrow arched as he looked at the blood that stained his fingertips. Uo grabbed her arm trying to hide the stain that was spreading. "That's not helping either." his voice was warming to anger, Uo could practically hear his blood pressure rising.  
  
"It's nothing, just a scratch." Uo protested rapidly.  
  
Kyo leaned back, "If it were just a scratch then you wouldn't be trying so damn hard to hide it?"  
  
Uo glowered at him. "What do you want me to say?"  
  
"If you were having troubles why didn't you tell me?" he asked, genuinely concerned for her.  
  
"And you do what? I'm not Tohru. I don't need you to be forever protecting me. I'm a big girl, I can take care of myself." Uo growled at him shrugging off his concern.  
  
"That's what I'm worried about." Kyo said, touching her face. "You taking care of yourself. Why don't you ever let down your guard?"   
  
"Do you see this?" Uo growled trying to restrain the anger that was building in her chest, she was point at her black eye. "Do you? This is what I got the last time I let down my guard." her eyes were hard as she stared at him. "This is what I got when I moved out, when I joined and quit the gang, this is what I get when I drop my guard."  
  
Kyo's forehead furrowed, "Why didn't you.."  
  
"Tell you about it?" Uo laughed bitterly. "Tohru comes to you two for help. I've lived this long doing it my way, I'll go on doing it that way." she turned to look at him. "Safe your breath, and your strength, wait for Tohru to need a knight in shinning armor and rescue her." her voice was tense, and as soon as the words had left her mouth she was climbing off the roof with Kyo running after her, or as close as he would get for a while.  
  
"Uo! Uo!" he called after her sliding down the ladder to hit the floor with a thud. She was walking down the stairs and he was fumbling for his crutches. "Uo! Damnit wait!" He was moving fast down the hall trying to catch up, but he was fighting an un-winnable battle. She was out the door just as he hit the entryway, "Uo! Stop! Come on! Wait up! Arisa!" but she was gone.  
  
"Gods Damnit!" he yelled and put his fist through the door.   
  
"Stop tearing my house apart Kyo!" Shigure said. "What's wrong? Did she leave you?"   
  
"What the fuck would you know about it?" the hotheaded youth bellowed. The novelist wasn't so stupid, or so blind, that he couldn't see that Kyo was really bothered by all of this.   
  
"Tell me what happened," the older man said, his voice serious for once.  
  
Kyo stood there for minute, a battle raging in his eyes between his passion and his pride. Anger and Remorse duked it out, while Pain and Self-resolve clashed behind cinnamon orbs. Finally with a disgusted sigh he told the novelist. "We were up on the roof."  
  
"No surprise there." Shigure mumbled and Kyo ignore him.  
  
"We were up on the roof and I asked her where she'd been. Told her we, I, had been worried. She got........catlike." there was a thin bitter half grin on the redhead's lips. "Went all steel and lighter fluid on me. She refused to tell me about it, and went into this..." he fumbled for the word to describe what Arisa Uotani had said, "speech about her not needing help and that I should save it and wait till Tohru needed rescuing. She told me to be someone else bloody knight in shining armor. Only without the bloody. And now I'm here and she's who the fuck knows where." Kyo broke off, shaking his head, and ran a hand through his hair. "I can't figure what's gotten into her thick skull." he grumbled. Shigure just smiled that little smug smile of his, he knew. Uo was jealous of Tohru because...well, that was still up in the air.   
  
"Come on, I'll make us some coffee. Don't worry about Uo she'll come around." Shigure said and wandered away from him.  
  
Kyo stood for a long moment staring out the hole he had put in the door. "I hope so. Gods I hope." 


	4. Tow chain

four: tow chain

Tohru and Yuki walked into a house that was silent as a grave. Which was ominous considering the people that were in the house. And the fact that the only conceivable reason why it would be quite would be that one or the other of the two hotheads in the house was dead.

"Shigure?" Tohru asked, her voice quavering. The before mentioned author stuck his head out of his office with an inquiring chirp. "Is Kyo here? Is Uo here? More importantly, are they both alive?"

"Yes and yes and yes." he said with a shrug.

Yuki looked hard at the novelist, "Where are they? Are they together?" If the pair were together than this sudden and complete lack of noise could just be the lull after a loud burst of noise, as in screaming, moaning, grunting, i.e. sex noises.

"They're in their respective rooms." the author said cheerily.

Tohru and Yuki exchanged a look. A look that said clearly what-the- fuck-is-going-on-here, only with out the fuck. Shigure pick up on the look. "The pair had a lover's spat."

"It was not a lover's spat!!!" two voices screamed from opposite ends of the house. Three sets of eyes stared in shock at the ceiling, each wonder how exactly the Yankee and the neko could have heard the author's voice.

"They had a fight, and this is the result." the author shrugged and ducked back into his office.

Tohru and Yuki stared in shock at each other. This was not, really really was not, normal behavior. When Uo and Kyo clashed there was much door slamming, name calling, wall busting, soul tearing, face bashing, blood spilling, not silence. Tohru shivered. It was all too weird. The idea of the pair "being together" was almost comprehensible, maybe, in some other dark and sinister universe, them being angry at each other in total silence was so far fetched that it was impossible to even start to consider, even if you were in the afore mentioned dark and sinister universe.

"Yuki?" she asked in that sweet quavering voice of hers. "What's going on?"

The cold rat just shrugged, he was at a loss for answers. Stony logic wouldn't work to figure out this one. In order to understand you would have to be one of the two. And they didn't even really understand what was going on.

Days past in silence. Uo and Kyo avoided each other as if they had some deadly disease. The other residents of that pleasant little battlefield got more and more wary about the pair, afraid that they would explode at any given moment. It was like living on two ticking time bombs, or sitting next to a powder keg with a burning match in one hand. The feeling that they were waiting on a battle that they couldn't out run was intense and looming over them like an immense black cloud.

The only thing that this vast cloud didn't touch was Yuki's plan. The sixteenth came all too soon. Yuki was waiting for Tohru at the bottom of the stairs, a dark suit held loosely to him, hanging off him in beautiful long lines, accenting his dark hair and bright purple eyes. He was watching expectantly and his eyes widened as she turned the corner and stood there looking down at him like an angel. She was dressed in all white, ribbons falling sweetly from her bows curling around her shoulders. Dark locks brushed her cheeks, her neck, her chest, covering only enough to be seductive, only enough to make Yuki want her. The cloth covering her was beautiful, sleek and smooth. Accenting her body and her smiling face. His eyes kept traveling up her, not able to take in that this being was almost his. Tohru walked down the stairs, slowly, almost uncertain on her heels. He took her arm as she came to him, and smiled.

"Can you believe it?" Tohru asked happily, "We've been together for a year. And tonight is going to be so wonderful."

Yuki nodded, and they walked together to his car. He acted the prefect gentleman. They went out to a beautiful restaurant, had an exquisite meal, and then went for the well-loved walk on the beach at sunset. The colors of the sky went blurred, a multitude of reds and yellows and deeper purples. Yuki paused, turning Tohru to face him. "Tohru," he whispered and she smiled at him. He gulped, and hit a knee. He had one hand wrapped around hers, as the other fumbled in his coat. Out came the dark blue ring box, and Tohru gasped, her free hand flying to her lips. "Tohru Honda, will you marry me?" Yuki asked his voice soft. Tohru nodded, her eyes sparkling with tears.

"Yes. Yes of course." She said and Yuki practically jumped with joy, grabbing the girl and hugging her, twirling her around. They laughed and Tohru kissed him softly. "Thank you." she whispered.

"For what?"

That soft smile played across her lips, "For making all my dreams come true."

------

Uo sat there at the kitchen table, half in shock from the news, her black eye gone without a trace. Tohru and Yuki sat together, nearly glowing with their news. Shigure was breaking out the champagne and Kyo was slouched against the wall, fighting back the urge to vomit. "So you two are.." Uo couldn't bring herself complete the sentence.

"Yes can you believe it? Isn't it the most wonderful thing?" her voice was wistful as she stared into her new fiancé's eyes.

"Perfect." he whispered, and it was a brilliantly revolting moment. Kyo gagged quietly, while Uo contemplated shooting herself in the foot to get away from the warm and fuzzy feelings. A sterile hospital was better than this place.

Uo stood, stretched, and slowly began pacing the perimeter of the room, hands on her neck, face turned toward the ceiling. She shot Kyo a look, forgetting for a moment that she was infuriated at him, the look held a disgusted emotion, the same one that he was obviously trying to keep off his face, but for a moment, as she looked at him, his beautiful features twisted with it. Then the boy grinned, and Uo walked off, going the round as if it had been assigned to her.

Yuki and Tohru leaned in for a kiss, but at just that moment a door burst open and Hana glided in. Uo and Kyo relaxed, hands easing away from their belts, and they commenced watching the Psychic.

"I always knew you would make a beautiful bride one day." Hana said, and was greeted by silent confusion. A tiny smile appeared on her face. "Uo's giving off so many vibes I picked them up halfway across town."

Uo growled at her friend, and was ignored.

Kyo smirked, and was ignored.

Shigure walked in with the champagne, and was rushed at.

Uo and Kyo filled their respective glasses then passed the bottle on. Yuki filled himself and Tohru one, and was just about to hand the bottle off, when the door burst open and in came Ayame, Hatori, Momijii, Haru, as well as, Hiro, Kisa and Kagura.

"It would appear that Shigure's been on the telephone." Kyo said dryly taking as sip of the sweet bubbly. Uo stifled a laugh as Shigure glared at them.

Kagura rushed over and hugged Tohru, "Oh! I'm so happy for you. Kyo darling someday we'll have this." she said with joy.

Kyo growled and shot a look at Uo. The rest of the room did not miss the significance of this. Kagura just beamed as Momijii and Kisa joined the hug. Ayame was shaking Yuki's hand intensely while babbling about having the perfect dress for the "big day." Haru was standing with Hana, they had become an item earlier that same year. Hatori stood over them and played the parent as Shigure jumped up and down with joy. None of them noticed when Uo slipped out of the room, followed closely by Kyo.

------

They stood on the porch in deathly silence. If it got any quieter Uo was sure she would be able to hear her heart beating wildly in her chest. She wasn't really angry with him. It was great with him. The racing and the sex, and the parties, and even the times when they just sat on the roof and talked were great. But to see her best friend get married and not be able to tell the person she was sleeping with that she did in fact Love him, was really starting to rub her the wrong way.

Kyo looked over at her "You still mad?"

"Yes." Uo said sharply, but she was staring at the moon and didn't see the smile that crossed Kyo's eyes.

He slid an arm around her waist and tugged her to him, "You aren't really mad at me are you?" he asked softly, staring at her, red-hot cinnamon eyes roasted into her soul.

Uo looked into his face with a stunningly beautiful glare, "Yes Kyo it is about you. How long have we been doing this?"

"Sleeping together?" eyebrows rose a fraction, "Or being a couple?" Kyo's voice was soft.

"We aren't a couple." Uo spat, voice hot, eyes flashing.

"No?" Kyo asked pulling her a little closer, "We've been sleeping together for nearly a year. Eating dinner together, talking together. What do you want? Long walks on the beach at sunset? Flowers and candy? Diamonds? Jewels? What? The only thing that says we aren't a couple are the words." Uo leaned against him, sighing. "But you need those don't you?" Kyo whispered brow furrowing.

Uo pushed him away, "I don't need anything." she growled and turned so fast that Kyo got whiplash just looking at her.

"Its like trying to get close to a man eating briar bush." he grumbled, rubbing the back of his neck with one hand, and steadying him crutches with the other. His lips grinned that cocky smile of his as he looked at the moon, "I think I'm going to need better armor." he told the silver disk lazily, then walked back into the wood letting the darkness embrace him like an old friend.

------

Months past in the Sohma household. For some the days crawled, for some they flew by. For Uo it was like pulling teeth without Novocain. For Kyo it was like beating his way through a man eating briar bush without any armor at all.

Kyo and Uo were forced to go back to school. Although they had to be practically dragged all the way there. Kicking and screaming no less. Uo was getting serious static from people about the bandages, which she was refusing to take off, although she did change them, even going so far as to change the color. Kyo was growling and bellowing and generally making life miserable for everybody who came into contact with him. Yuki and Tohru were busy as always. Graduation was only months away not to mention prom. Which Tohru had been on about since the very first flyer announcing the dates made its stunning debut on the walls of the incredibly dull and lifeless hallways of their school. Uo rolled her eyes every time Tohru opened her mouth and the words, "shopping" or "dresses" or "shoes" or "prom" feel out. Hana seemed just as excited as Tohru, which made Uo seriously wonder about her friends' sanity.

Kyo's cast was removed. The doctor's were amazed by the rapid recovery. There was a snide comment about milk involved, as well as rapidly soaring blood pressure. He was home later that afternoon and thoroughly enjoying being able to move. He probably went through three workouts just for the sheer joy of moving. Uo watched him, clandestine of course, and smiled. Shigure typed away on his new plot line. Tohru sat on the porch and laughed. Yuki stood behind her leaning against the support beams and holding a cup of tea. Hana just wondered from room to room.

But finally, after many months of dealing with the feuding pair, Shigure decided that this drama needed more of exactly that, drama. So the author took matters into his own hands. Kyo and Uo were sitting across the table from each other, glares were flying like guided missiles between them and no one was safe.

"Alright. That's enough." Shigure said slapping the table, everyone looked at him. "You two are acting incredibly childish. We are going to settle this like men." he said suddenly. "Uo! Kyo! Switch Sides!" he said and walked out of the room to call Hatori.

"Yes. Yes. Yes. When. Fine." and the conversation was finished. Hatori put down the phone, snuffed his cigarette and stood.

Uo and Kyo were still sitting in their spots when Shigure returned. It turns out that the smutty author was very hard to take seriously, especially when he was wearing a pink kimono. He stared at them. They just stared back. Tohru looked at him, "So how are you going to settle this?" not really sure she wanted to know the answer. "Arm wrestling!" Was the triumphant reply. Silence echoed in the room.

------

Hatori entered the room. "Interesting statues." he commented dryly. It seemed that Kyo wasn't the only one who had fallen into sarcasms biting trap.

Kyo's jaw hit the floor. "You expect me to arm wrestle Uotani?!" he asked indignantly.

Uo's eyes narrowed ever so slightly and a dark and sinister grin played on her rosy lips, "You aren't afraid of a girl are you Kyo-kyo?"

He leaned across the table, "I'm defiantly not afraid of you Miss Uotani." they were glaring hard at one another and one could practically see their egos clashing over head. Tohru, Yuki, Hana, Shigure and Hatori all took a step backwards. Hana made a tiny sound of half bliss the look of a drug addict passing over her face.

"Good. Then you accept?" she growled, green eyes locked on his face.

"You have an accord." was the neko's cool reply.

Shigure was grinning broadly. "Best two out of three. But we have to... oh never mind, here he is." Hatori looked over at him and then a cell rang. Hatori answered it hastily.

"Fine fine. Perfect." he muttered and then looked around the room. He hurriedly turned off his cell and shoved it in his pocket. "Shigure. You said something about a contest?" he asked after the weight of the silence had gotten too heavy to bear.

"Indeed most trusted companion I did." he pointed a finger dramatically at the pair sitting in front of him. "These two are going to battle it out in a duel."

"Will it be swords of pistols?" Uo whispered across the table, and earning herself a scowl from Hatori. The girl shrugged and settled back.

"Why exactly did you call me?" Hatori turned his attention back to Shigure.

The author looked at him, confused by his friends inability to see the VERY obvious, "Because you're a doctor?" he asked dumbly.

Hatori sighed as Tohru giggled. "It's arm wrestling I doubt any-." he didn't finish the sentence. Between Kyo and Uo the rough equivalent of hurricane type damage could be produced, and that was on the good days. On bad days, you might just chalk it up to a natural disaster and leave well enough alone.

Shigure grinned broadly, "Come on. Come on! Time to arm wrestle." he tugged on Kyo's arm, giggling like a mad hatter. And so the match began. Kyo and Uo set their elbows on the table, and wrapped their hands together. Nasty and evil grins covered both their faces, and you could tell neither wanted to lose. "On three!" Shigure started, but its didn't matter, the pair was already started. Grunts and teeth grinding followed. Minutes past with no visible indication of a winner. Another minute ticked by as Kyo slowly forced Uo's hand toward the tabletop. She was doing an admirable job of resisting; but she couldn't ever really deny Orange-top whatever he wanted. Although that wouldn't stop her from trying. Her wrist connected with the table top with a thud and a growl issued from her.

"I thought that was my line." Kyo leaned across and whispered to her. Green eyes narrowed at him, flames burning deep in them-hatred kind of flames, not passionate love kind of flames.

"Go to hell." was the snapped reply.

"Did that. Now I'm looking for Heaven." Kyo replied without a thought, charm dropping into his voice like a ton of bricks.

"Maybe you're looking in the wrong spot." Uo took his hand and grinned, that evil, wild, Cheshire cat grin of hers, sending desire searing through Kyo's system.

Kyo's upper arm strained as Uo pressed him back, a thin bead of sweat trickled down his cheek and into his collar. Uo noted this with a smirk. "Can't stand the heat?"

Kyo pushed a little harder and Uo's hand inched backward. "This is hell, you'd think I'd be able to."

Uo was getting madder by the second, and she forced his hand back, and not only back, but into the table with a resounding thump. "Good to know that I'm such a source of torment for you."

"That's one to one." Shigure said with a smile. "Third and final round!" his voice boomed out like an announcer. Most of the group winced. Uo and Kyo just glowered. Uo popped her knuckles and Kyo flexed his hands. Tohru and Yuki stood on watching the pair with discomfort. Hana was looking very very happy with all the signals that were flying about. Hatori was looking suspiciously like a referee; Shigure had slipped quietly out of the room and just as quietly back in--no one noticed.

The resident hotheads set elbows on the table and locked hands. This was going to be a long, hard pull. Back and forth like a tennis match it went. Tohru and Yuki's faces turned from one to the other, following the action. Shigure watched too, waiting for his opening and toying with something behind his back. And it came. Uo was just forcing Kyo's hand closer and closer to the tabletop and his utter demise. But he was saved by the Shigure. The author swooped in and snapped something onto their wrists, making the pair jerk apart. But not very far. Steel chain stood between them and continents of distance. The only sound that perforated the silence was a soft jingle and rising blood anger.

Uo stood up so suddenly that Kyo actually yelped as his arm was jerked, "What the fuck is this?" she yelled, and Kyo seconded the question almost instantaneously.

Shigure smiled, "You two are going to stay that way until you work this out." he was smug, until Uo hopped the table and they both were advancing on him. The inu had talked his way into a corner.

"Give me the key Shigure." Kyo said, voice so tense that you could almost hear him caging his anger.

"Give it here." Uo said, and they took another step toward him. Fire and Brimstone and Imminent Doom flashed through Shigure's mind, as well as most of his life.

Shigure looked very very scared, "I...uh..."the paused lasted a full minute until Uo stepped forward again. "..lost it?" was the squeaked ending. Two fists collided with his prone form shortly there after.

The wind whistled softly through the newest tattered door. The pair stood, back to back, looking madder than hellfire and brimstone. Too very dark auras surrounded them, and blended perfectly together. Tohru and Yuki inched backward, as did every other living organism in the room, even the dust in the room shot away from the pair. There was so much anger radiating from them that even Akito (rest his soul.) curled up in his coffin and whimpered. Satan himself shrunk back, cowering in a distant corner of hell. Uo and Kyo stood in the ashes of the ruined plot like Mongol's over a desecrated village, only taller.

"Come on." Uo grumbled, tugging on her forced companion. He resisted, so she literally dragged him out of the room. "Can you drive?" she asked, shooting him a questioning look. Uo's right hand was chained to Kyo's left.

A startled look traveled over the neko's face. "Um...yeah." was his reply, as he weighed the situation rapidly beneath his bright red hair.

"Good." Uo said, and pulled open the door to Yuki's car. Chuckling softly, she hot-wired it, loving the sight of the spark that flew between the wires.

"Did I know you could do that?" Kyo asked with a baffled but appreciative look, desire stirred in him again.

She smiled back at him, "No." Then she twisted her body so that she could shimmy backwards into the car while Kyo slid into the driver's seat. "How in the hell does he work in this thing?" she grumbled as they got settled.

Kyo grimaced at the images that flashed in his head and reached for the stick shift. "I could have lived a long healthy life without hearing that." Their fingers intertwined over the standard, mostly out of habit, and the boy looked over at Uo, "So were are we going?"

"I know a guy." She said as they turned onto the main road. "Stay on this street. About a quarter of an hour out of town. Second on the right." her voice was soft. "He owes me a favor, and he can get these things off." she said, sliding a finger under the bracelet.

"Do I want to know?" Kyo asked flicking his eyes to her. She shook her head. They drove on in tight silence. She was still angry at him, although she now admitted, at least to herself, that she was off in her judgment. He couldn't help being what he was. But everything was far from beer and skittles in Yuki's car. Uo was holding onto her anger like a lifeboat, and Kyo was holding up pretenses just to make her happy. Kyo shifted gears and the handcuffs rattled. And those were the only sounds heard, the rattle of the chains, the hum off the engine, road noise, and nothing else. It took half an hour, a short eternity by normal tense relationship standards, for them to reach Uo's guy's house. Kyo turned into his drive, and it was easy to see that he drove with one hand on a regular basis. "Get out." Uo growled, Kyo turned and slid out of the car, arm extended so she could follow. She crawled out, and Kyo shut the door behind her, with a smile.

"Talk about deja vu." he whispered, aching to plant a line of kisses down her throat, he was just about to when the sound of a shotgun being fired ricochet over his head. He ducked instinctively, and Uo jerked her head to the side.

"Doyle!! Stop it! It's me! Uo!" the gunshots stopped.

"It really you lam'?" an Irish accent floated from behind the double barrel.

Uo half grinned. "Yes its really me, and my..uh..."Uo stopped trying to find the words and just raised her hand, Kyo's coming up with it.

Doyle laughed and waved them inside. "'right. Are you going to tell me wat happened or do I just get to guess?"

"You get to get these off."

"Fifty bucks." Doyle said looking at the handcuffs. "Is this some kinky sex thing gone ary?" Two fists collided with the Irishmen's head seconds later. He rubbed his jaw from the floor, "Alright, alright. I get it. Not a sex thing. To bad though. She's a fiery one." he said with a wink toward Uo who blushed so hot that Kyo could have sworn he felt the warmth rolling off her. Doyle was at least twenty, maybe older, a few days scruff running rampant on his square jaw. He was good looking to say the least, in a rugged, uncensored, Irishman way. Kyo shot Uo a look, and she shrugged.

"Me and Doyle go back...a ways." she said in explanation.

Doyle brought out his tools, "Meaning that we slept together a couple of times and then she walked out on me. You want broke, blind or bedlam?" he asked, vaguely gesturing at the chains.

"Broke. Wait Just split 'em." Uo said, while Kyo stared lost in the lexicon, "And I'm only paying you twenty."

"Twenty?!" Doyle half shouted, jerking back from the cuffs.

Uo sent him a look that Kyo didn't quite catch, but it was probably along the same lines of you-owe-me-one-and-here-I-am-to-collect. Which was a close cousin of the do-it-or-die look. "Fine, twenty." the dark haired man muttered, slicing through the chain.

Kyo finally decided to come out of his shock just about the time the chain broke. "So you're telling me that I drove for half an hour for a job I could have done with a set of bolt cutters just for you to reminisce?" he asked hotly as Uo turned an icy stare on him and Doyle scooted out of the line of fire, like the brilliant man he was.

"Not really. I only just now decided that I wanted them spilt. Do something about those will you?" she said jangling the loose ends of the chain. Kyo took a moment realizing that she was talking to Doyle and not him.

"What do you mean just now realized?" he grumbled.

"I mean that I just now realized." Uo said, her voice rising. "Why do you have to second guess me?"

"I need a beer." Doyle said wisely, and slipped off to some dark reach of his tiny house.

"Damnit Uo. What the hell's got you so stirred up?" Kyo asked with enough anger in his voice to stop an army, at least a small one. The look on Uo's face would have sent the bravest men running to their mommies, but Kyo had seen it before, and lived to tell the tale of it. Kyo stepped up to her, leaning in to make sure she could see his face, as well as heard his voice.

"If I did something then tell me. Cause I really hate being left in the dark." he didn't have to add the do-you-understand-me. She had been trained in the arts of intimidation; she knew how this worked.

"You don't give a fuck about it, as long as you get to fuck me." the blonde spat then cocked an eyebrow.

Kyo's fist clenched his red hair falling into his eyes and he didn't quite understand why he was so mad. "The feelings mutual. Lust is a powerful thing."

"So is rage." Uo said, and flattened his face. Doyle stood in the doorway watching the pair go about killing each other.

"Hope they don't get any blood on the carpet." he said then turned and walked down the hall, "It had to be a sex thing. That lad's too fired up fer it to have been anything else. But Uo 'as a way o' doing that ta a man." he muttered strolling down the hall with his beer in one hand and his thoughts in the other. The sounds of his living room being torn apart followed him vaguely down the halls.

It was scarcely furnished for a reason this tiny place of his; he had too many rowdy people in and out of the joint to do something nice with the place. Doyle knew everybody that was anybody in this ring. He had his fingers in all the right places, for all the wrong reasons. But people mostly let him alone these days just like he wanted to be let alone. The darkness wrapped around him, and he was content to drink his beer leaning against a long forgotten about wall, and listen to the sound of the lovers spat going on in his front room.

Uo and Kyo went about their normal fighting routine. They both had patterns that they went through every time without fail. The only problem was that they knew each other's patterns so well by now that they blocked every hit, so as it turned out, they just worked each other to death. Worked every drop of anger out of their systems, and if there was any left they just threw it into their sex life and hoped for the best. Uo grimaced as Kyo's fist hammered its way into her stomach, she was almost done; so was he, she could feel it in her gut, along with her rapidly bruising side. Finally she had to quit she couldn't go any longer. They had been at it for hours and were showing all the signs of it. Their guards were getting sloppy, their blows not landing where they had intended. It was her that slipped first, losing her footing and hitting her knee hard against the carpeting. She staggered up, blood dripping into her eyes from a split in her eyebrow.

Kyo looked her over, his left eye swollen almost shut, muscle tissue rapidly closing his now blackened eye. "Give up?" the fist that met his face shortly there after gave him her negative answer. How much longer is this going to go on? Kyo thought, blocking her punch and kicking her feet out from under her. He loved and despised this habit, it was hard to beat her up, but it was even harder to resist it when she hit him. She lurched to her feet as he watched. There was more strength in her than she knew, both physical and spiritual. A fist soared by his face and he watched it pass by. Damnit she was tough, he was going to have bruises all over and he wasn't complaining.

"Are you gonna hit me or what?" Uo asked, staggering back, and dropping back into her fighting crouch.

Kyo shook his head and set himself, "Not if you stop swinging." he said softly, but left his guard up anyways.

Uo let her fists fall to her sides. "I'm tired of fighting you every step of the way." she sighed and fell, literally, to the floor.

Kyo sat down beside her. "So why do you?" he asked calmly.

"Because every time you open your mouth you piss me off." she growled at him and he smirked.

"I can't help being the way I am." he said, and she almost sighed.

"I know. You can't help being the fucking way you are and I can help lo.." she paused, "coming back for more." she finished in a rush. Inside Kyo whooped for joy, but outside he just watched her. "Why do we keep doing this?" her voice was soft, as she memorized the pattern of the carpet under her feet.

"Because we're both masochists." The redhead said with a shrug and a smirk. Uo laughed, or started to laugh till her lip spilt and she grimaced. He tucked a stray hair behind her ear then kissed her softly. "Are we good?" he asked, and emerald green eyes sparkled at him. Her blood was smeared across his bottom lips making them blush rosy against his skin.

"Let's get out of here." Uo whispered and almost smiled, only to wince again as her lip protested. "Tohru's not going to be happy about this." Kyo stood and reached down to help her up.

"Where's that Irishman of yours? If I remember right, you owe him twenty bucks." the neko smiled that awkward little smile of his.

Uo just shot him an inpatient look, "DOYLE!!" she yelled over her shoulder, and the lock pick walked in.

"You called my lady?" he said sluggishly from the doorway.

Uo slid her hand into Kyo's back pocket and lifted his wallet, "I owe you something don't I?" Doyle almost made a comment that would have given Kyo a really good excuse for breaking his nose, but he didn't. The Irishman really didn't have the money for plastic surgery. Uo's nimble fingers flicked through the bills in the black leather wallet, searching for a twenty, she plucked one out and held it over her shoulder. The Irishman took the twenty and slid it into Uo's back pocket, with Kyo none the wiser.

"Keep that." he said softly into her ear "I found the keys." and clipped the chain around her neck. Two small silver keys nestled at the base of her throat, sparkling like diamonds in the bad light. Uo chuckled softly, fingering the metal. "Thanks Mac."

"You mean I just spent twenty buck on keys?!" Kyo half yelled.

"Pretty much." Doyle voiced in his wonderful accent, and Uo grinned, leaning back on her old friend and feeling his heart race then settle again. The hotheaded neko yelled something incoherent as Uo and Doyle walked out of the room, Doyle's strong arm around her waist, cutting a tan line through her white shirt. Kyo watched them leave, Uo's hips swinging and Doyle's dark head bending down to listen and to whisper something to her, making the blonde laugh.

Kyo's chest tightened with a jealousy that he was refusing to admit to himself. For some reason the fact that Doyle had slept with Uo was rubbing him the wrong way. He knew that he wasn't the only one she had ever been with, but that didn't stop him from being bothered by the idea that she had done the same things she had done to him to another man. He sighed and followed after them not wanting to leave them alone together.

Doyle and Uo sat in the living room, Uo sprawled across the couch, her white t-shirt sliding up, showing off a strip of flat stomach, her blonde hair was spread across the armrest her right arm was tucked behind her head. "You heard anything from the Boys? I heard they were back in town." she was asking as Kyo walked in a cigarette hanging from his lips as he fought his lighter. A black one sailed toward his head and he caught it without looking up from his struggle. Lighting up he pulled a slow drag off it and took a seat on the opposite arm of the couch, then passed the cigarette to Uo without thinking about it. Doyle watched this tradition with something that would pass for awe in some circles. Uo didn't say a word, just took a drag and pulled her knees up so Kyo could sit down.

"The Boys were around a few nights ago actually." the Irishman said, rising quickly from his awe stricken state. Kyo's brow furrowed slightly. He wasn't so stupid as to not know about the Faraway Boys, the Irish gang of the area. It disturbed him slightly that Uo spoke of them so casually. He had known that she had been deep in the gang business, but he had not known that she was THAT deep.

Uo sat up slowly, "Business or pleasure?" she asked her eyes crinkling slightly with concern.

Doyle shrugged with a rueful smile "Its about the same to them I'n't it?" The blonde's lips twisted ever so slightly in a pondering frown.

"They haven't been bothering you have they?" she asked. Doyle was a dear friend, and to have her rowdy buddies fall upon him would not do.

"No, not in the least. They were just by for some beers and ta watch the game." Doyle said hastily. Uo chuckled softly; the Boys obsession with rugby always brought a smile to her face. "What about you?" the man asked, "How being legit treating you?"

Green eyes flicked instantly to Kyo, "Not too badly really. It's rough sometimes, and those old skills come in handy at the oddest times." she said thinking about the stolen car sitting out front.

A grin played at the Irishman's lips, "I'm sure pretty boy there has seen at least one little part of them."

Kyo half rose from his seat a growl rolling in his chest, maybe from the pretty boy commit or maybe from the implication that Uo was a whore. Uo slapped a hand on his chest and pressed him back into the couch.

Leaning forward she whispered into his ear, "Calm down ignore him and breathe." her arm held him down as his chest shuddered harshly. "He's just teasing. That's all." She leaned over and nuzzled him softly, kissing his throat.

Kyo relaxed and smiled as he kissed her softly, loving the taste of her lips on his.

Doyle watched once again in awe. This pair had just finished beating each other to a pulp and now here they sat like lovers, kissing as if no one else was in the room. He cleared his throat loudly trying to separate the pair.

Uo leaned back from Kyo and grinned as he trailed a hand down her leg. "I'd exercise a little more care Doyle, I'm not always going to b here to save your ass." she said turning to look at her old friend, her hand still on Kyo chest.

"I can see that." was the drawled reply, and Kyo bristled again. "You should probably be going though. Its getting late." he said checking his watch.

Uo looked out the front window and winced seeing the sun dropping behind the trees. "Yeah." she stood slowly her lover following the action. "They'll be worried back at the house." Kyo grimaced; Sohma house was someplace he didn't really want to go. Uo walked over and hugged Doyle, "Thanks for helping me out."

"Any time." was the faint reply.

"Let's go." Kyo's voice edged on growl once more. Uo leaned back from her old friend and walked back to her lover. They headed for the door, not touching but the desire to was thick between them. Doyle shook his head and nursed his beer in the falling dark.

------

Uo and Kyo stood in front of Yuki's slick black sports car, watching each other, emotions caged behind irises harder than steel. Kyo was in love with Tohru, Uo wouldn't be able to forget that, but she also couldn't forget the lust. She wanted him. Uo breathed out a thin hissing breath. Her skin trembled under his touch, his hand rested heavy on the small of her back. Kyo pressed a kiss to the back of her neck, and listened to her breath speed up. In out in out, so fast she could have hyperventilated if she had been anybody else. A smile pulled at Kyo's lips, a dark, dirty, sweaty, promising things unmentionable in public, smile. Uo whimpered as he slid a hand up her thigh, "Arisa." he breathed and she repressed a moan. His lips brushed her throat, canines trailing tugging at the flesh. He had lived with a beast inside him for 18 years, the animal urges that came with it hadn't gone away. Uo prayed they never would. Kyo stepped back. He swallowed hard, he couldn't be that close to her without taking her, and he wasn't going to fuck her where she stood. "Get in the car." he ordered, and for once in her life Arisa Uotani did exactly as she was told.


	5. Body work

**five: body work**

It was completely silent at Sohma house. Tohru, Yuki and Shigure were tucked in and at least pretending to sleep. Two of their five were missing. Tohru stared at her bedroom ceiling, watching the blue tiled pattern shift with the tree branches. "Where are they?" she asked softly of the universe.

There was a motel across town; a dingy little place that was used by strangers, cheating husbands, and two fiery teenagers. Uo was stretched out on the floor naked. Beads of sweat clung to her body as she finger combed her hair. Kyo sat leaning against the bed, only recently dressed, or half dressed. Olive drab clashed resoundingly with the dull grey of the carpet and bright orange clashed just as loudly with the fuzzy tan blanket. The paisley bedspread was flipped over, white side up, with Uo lounging on it.

"I miss the bed." Uo said lazily as cinnamon eyes memorized her body.

Kyo smiled, "Lucky blighter." he was too far away from her. Her gaze swept over the room; clothes were strewn everywhere, including her bra, which hung contemptuously from the wall mount lamp. There was a lazy grin on her face and a glow to her skin. "Come here." Kyo's voice was rough.

Uo turned her face, looking at the boy that had just insured that she would be sore in the morning. A blonde eyebrow rose a fraction of an inch as she watched cinnamon orbs. "I'm not moving."

Kyo crawled over to her with a smile. Her fingers traced down his chest as he kissed her. His hand was between her thighs and she whimpered her shoulder blades reaching for each other as her back left the floor. "You said you weren't going to move." his lips traced a hot path down her throat.

"I lied." the top button of his pants was undone.

Kyo leaned back, propping his weight on his arm. "What makes chicks so fucking desirable?" he asked, the hand between her thighs moving slowly.

Uo let out a breath that hissed between her teeth with a hiss, caught a handful of orange hair, and dragged his face down to hers and whispered, "Two words: Multiple orgasms."

-- . --

Tohru stood at Yuki's door, waiting patiently for someone to answer her knock. He was in there, that much she knew. She knocked again and heard the sound of a vaguely Yuki shaped mass hit the floor. A hand covered her sweet little mouth as Yuki opened the door. Yuki stood there looking utterly tasty, silvery hair tumbled into his eyes which slipped into lovely pools of violet temptation. He was clothed, but not well. Grey silk pajama bottoms hung loosely from his hips, a t-shirt of a nondescript color was being worn backward, tag brushing Yuki's chin. Tohru giggled, her hand not covering the sound.

Yuki blinked behind his curtain of her hair. Was that Tohru? Standing in his door? In nothing but her nightie? His heart jumped into his throat and he was suddenly having trouble trying to breathe. It was completely innocent. An innocent visit. At three in the morning. "H- Honda-san, to what do I owe the pleasure?" he asked utterly polite even as early as that.

"Do you know if Uo is home yet?" she asked casting chaste eyes to the floor.

That soft smile pulled at Yuki's lips, tired seeped from his eyes. "You've been up all night?" he didn't answer her question only side stepped and motioned her into his room.

-- . --

Kyo stood by the bed, fully clothed, more than satisfied and tired as hell. Uo was stretched out below him on the bed half asleep, lying on her side, back to him. "We have the room for the night." was her soft comment. He sat down in the perfect curve her legs made. Calloused palms ran over her thigh and she sat up pulling the sheet around her. "Stay." she whispered, reaching out and touching his bright orange hair.

"Uo." there was a softness in his voice, like a silk wrapped blade rubbing down her skin. She leaned into him, wrapping her arms around his neck and pressing her face into his shoulder. He sat there a moment, then wrapped his arms around her with a sigh. There was something going on that she hadn't mentioned, but he held her anyways. He shook his head "We stay."

-- . --

Tohru smiled at Yuki as she sat on his floor. "The strawberries should be ready soon." she said, eyes on her engagement band. "Yes, they should." Yuki nodded, eyes on Tohru. He was leaning against the wall, arms crossed lazily over his chest, hair in his face. "I know you know where they are." she said, somewhat out of the blue. If anything she was getting better at figuring things out on her own. But then, Yuki was sure she was smarter than she let on. Yuki's smile faded like a light bulb just beginning to dim. "You're getting better at that." he muttered She tilted up her face and looked at him. "You know. Tell me." She made it two short commands, and Yuki's smile slipped right off his pretty face. He crossed the distance between them and crouched in front of her, and tilted her chin up to look at her face. Then he looked dead into miles of brown, and lied.

-- . --

Uo smiled and leaned against the pillows. Kyo smiled that small awkward little grin of his, and stripped off his black t-shirt once more. He crawled onto the bed with her and leaned against the headboard, cradling his Cinderella to his chest. Uo sighed contently and, for the lack of a better word, snuggled into him. She was tired enough, and happy enough, that she could relax into the warmth that was Kyo.

-- . --

"I don't know where Uo is, and Kyo's probably wandering around somewhere like the dumb cat that he is." he said. They were at the sleazy motel that they always used; they were together, and had been for probably a month since he knew about it. There were voices arguing in his head; one was the one at the front of his skull, the whiter side of Yuki, was screaming for him to tell her the truth, but how could he tell Tohru, sweet innocent, pure as the day is long Tohru, that two of her best friends were sleeping together? The other, the blacker side, was seething about the fact that Kyo was getting some and all he got to do was sit here with his hand on Tohru's chin.

"You're lying to me Yuki." Tohru said, dropping her eyes.

One thing all Sohma's learned to do was lie. "Is there a reason why I should lie to you Miss Honda?"

She smiled softly; she had always had a hard time staying mad at the Sohmas. "Tohru." Yuki looked puzzled, and was so close to her that she leaned forward and kissed him softly. "You can call me Tohru." her lips moved against his as she spoke and he rocked back on his hells, tumbling over to sprawl on the floor, delightfully ungainly in a very un-Yuki like matter. Tohru giggled softly, one hand covering her mouth. The doll like Yuki pulled himself up onto his elbows, and stared at the girl, eyes wide, lips throbbing with the feel of her lips on his. They sat there for a minute, 'til Yuki reached up and pulled Tohru to the floor, and to him.

-- . --

Kyo's cinnamon eyes traced the lines of Uo's body. She looked softer when she slept, nearly helpless really, in his arms. A jaw line tightened as his mind's eye landed on the first time they had met, really met, on a playfield that was anything but friendly.

He had left the night they had announced their intentions. He had run, hard and fast and far from that place. She had finally decided, and he wished she hadn't. Four months later, he showed up again. The house was as empty as his stomach, which rumbled like a freight train. The front door slid open smooth, and blue met embers over the distance.

_Uo was sitting at the kitchen table, black mini pulled up a little high, red lipstick still dark. They stared at each other. He could see it in her face as she looked him over. The Kyo she knew was gone, gone and faded into this new thing. There was no scrawny teenager left, somewhere along the way he had filled out, grown up, and damn did he look good._

"_You're late." she smirked, eyes not quite covering her feelings._

"_Where are they?" anger crept into his voice._

_She smiled and rubbed the proverbial salt into his wounds with a few deft words. "Yuki and Tohru are on a date." she paused, just to watch his face crumble then restack._

_Kyo's chest tightened with anger. It was to be expected. Yuki and Tohru were dating, a date went unsaid. His fist dented a nearby stud and he stood there, frozen, dragging air back into reluctant lungs. "So why are you here?" his voice was not much more than a growl._

_Uo grinned, that lovely Cheshire cat grin of hers. "I live here."_

_Kyo took out the wall, "You what?!?!?"_

"_I moved in after you moved out." she grinned up at him, "Guess you could say I was your replacement."_

"_You're the best they could find?"_

_Uo was on her feet so fast Kyo got whiplash just thinking about it. Blonde hair flared around her face like some ghostly halo, and those classic eyes glowed with hellfire, but Kyo never got that far. He got stuck on her long legs, clad in thigh high black fishnets, his eyes traveled up from the floor, crossing the black stiletto heels, her calves, her thighs, the black line that her thigh high cut across the smooth skin. The flat panel of her stomach,, small rounded breasts, up the curl of his throat to an almost blushing face. An uncommon smirk slapped itself onto Kyo's face, and Uo was fighting to keep from slapping him. "See anything you like?" she hissed the hair on the back of her neck standing on end._

_Kyo smiled that dark little smile of his, "If I do I'll be sure to mention it to you." he replied cool as anything. He was fabulous, pity was that he knew it._

_Uo Cheshired again, "I remember, you like yours short and sweet."_

"_Leave her out of this!" Kyo yelled, Uo always knew just the perfect way to punch his buttons._

"_Don't tell me you're still hung up on her." Uo laughed and in the same motion dodged the fist that soared past her with a whistle._

"_Don't talk about her." he yelled, she dodged another fist, dancing backward on her spiked heels._

"_She was my friend long before you loved her." she smiled. "So I think I have more right to talk about her than you do."_

"_Shut up!!!" He yelled, rushing her._

_Uo sidestepped and tripped him. She stood over him with a smile. "Can't stand that you're still only second best."_

_Kyo's blood pressure soared and stood so fast he hit lightheaded, "I swear every time you open your mouth ..."_

"_I piss you off." Uo was suddenly there right in front of him and her foot connected with his chin like a thousand pounds of blunt weight. She had laid him out again. There was a fabulously detestable smile on her face while she stood over him, and he stared up her short black skirt at her matching black lace underwear._

"_Classy." he muttered, bringing one hand up to rub his sore face. His eyes were once again wandering up her long legs. Uo smoothed her skirt back down. "Had to match." "You don't wear short skirts often enough not to flash someone in one." Kyo said, and lilted the end, making it almost a question. "I can't wear a skirt and you can't beat a girl. I guess we come up about even." she said, watching him. He staggered up once more. "If we're even, then why the hell did I end up on the floor?"_

_Uo grinned "Because I will always be better than you."_

"_You throw a pretty good punch, for a girl." he said, rubbing that fine chin of his._

"_I do a lot of things really well." the conversation was flawless; Uo turning out response without a pause, almost before Kyo could think of things to reply._

_The red head took a step forward; Uo stood her ground, watching him come. "You can, can you?" his voice crawled down her spine. The boy had certainly changed._

"_One more step and you can find out just how good."_

Yuki smiled at Tohru, holding him close to her. "I love you Tohru Honda." he whispered, and she snuggled into him.

"I love you too. I always have." her arms circled his waist as she held on to him, like he was the last thing that mattered to her. And for all niceties, he was. There was nothing desperate in them, no need too great. There was an easiness to it, in the way they held each other. They weren't like Uo and Kyo, who clung to each other like there wasn't anything else in the world. Yuki and Tohru held each other softly, tender in every meaning of the word. They loved each other with everything they had, everything and more. There was the love that Shigure wrote about (in his better novels) the happy, careless love of teenagers, uncomplicated, unquestioned, love.

"Stay with me tonight Tohru?" Yuki asked, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear.

Tohru sat straight up, "Yuki Sohma. How dare you "Yuki lay a gentle hand on her lips.

"Just stay. Let me hold you tonight."

Tohru blushed, "That's all?" she asked, her lips moving against his palm.

Yuki smiled and replaced his hand with a kiss. "Yes, my Tohru. Just that." He chuckled softly at the sweet, school-girlish blush that spread across her checks as she threw her arms around his neck. He stood, lifting the girl in his arms, and took her to bed.

_Kyo took the step and the shiny, lean edge of a switchblade dug into his neck, just at his jaw. He smiled; that same dark smile that had seen to many dark alleys. The same smile she wore. The smile of a person hurting and willing to hurt. Uo dug that little blade into him, a warning, but the look never changed. Kyo's eyes went dead as he dragged his rough palm up her arm, big hand wrapping around hers. He stepped into her, one hand at the small of her back, pulling her body against the hard line of his. Uo growled, loosing the knife's angle somewhere along the way. The red head just smirked and slid a hand up her back. There was no crease, no line, no wrinkle, "No bra." Uo almost blushed "I never thought you were the type."_

"_What the fuck's that suppose to mean?" Uo yelled, dragging the blade down his skin._

"_No bra and lace panties. If I didn't know better I'd say you were horny." his voice rolled over her. The blade shimmered at his collar and, with a smile, she opened his shirt._

"_Be glad you know." she hissed, lips close to his._

_It didn't bleed instantly, that gently slopping line that dragged through his black t-shirt. And they watched together as crimson floated to the top. Kyo stared at his marked chest for a long moment. It wasn't the worse injury he'd ever had. But that's not what hurt, what was really smarting was his ego. He was never going to beat Yuki, not at a game that he choose at least, but Kyo had to deal with that, or stop breathing. He looked up at Uo, and realized that she would happily hand him the last. She, Arisa Uotani, would kill him; and be happy about it._

"_Who fucked you over Uotani?" he asked, "Who got those lacy panties in a twist?" he slid his hand up her thigh and snapped said underwear, then left his hand there, resting against the rough of the lace and the smooth of her thigh._

_Uo's eyes widened slightly and she ran her fingertips lightly down the recently acquired cut. "That is none of your goddamned business." no sooner had the words slipped like honey from her lip then she dug her fingers into the wound. Kyo gasped, and Uo grabbed a belt loop and pulled him hard to her. "It ain't nothing you need to worry that pretty little head of yours over." Blood spilled down her fingers and splashed against Kyo's wrist. The hand on her thigh convulsed, and the hotheaded youth fell into her. Uo took his weight, for a moment, and then shoved him backward, watching him sprawl once more on the floor._

"_Damn." he breathed, and a shiver crept its way unexpectedly down Uo's spine. It had been a long time since anyone had reacted like that. She couldn't decide whether his words were curse or praise. Kyo was slumped on the floor, shirt flapping back off his chest, eyes half closed, the bloody gash on his chest running riverlettes of crimson down his ribcage. The Yankee stood over him and he rolled thoughts of those black panties over in his head. In that second, thoughts of Tohru did not occupy his mind, not Tohru or any other woman he had ever known. Just Arisa Uotani, and her black underwear. His life was smeared all over her right hand and she loomed over him, steady on her heels and glaring daggers. Kyo let his head fall back, his chest on fire and lust burning in his heart. He wanted her so bad he could taste it. "Arisa." he murmured and Uo tensed._

"_Don't call me that." Kyo sat up and looked at the girl, the pain in his chest already fading._

"_It's your name ain't it?" he asked and she nodded, "Then why not call you by it?"_

_Uo ground her teeth, "It's not who I am."_

_Kyo pulled himself to his feet with all the grace of a broken marionette. "I'm not a Sohma, but I bear that name." he was suddenly too close to her, his eyes too bright, his face too beautiful__ and too dangerously familiar__. Uo screamed in her head, she would keep her libido in check or slice him up trying. "We are not so different you and I." the words were soft spoken, and almost kind._

"_I'm not like you." she spat. Kyo stepped closer to her. A slight three inches separated them out of habit, even after a year they weren't use to being able to get close._

"_Are you trying to convince me, or yourself?" he asked, sliding his hand along the curve of her hip to her lower back. Uo stilled, everything settling into that area of white noise that held her center. She had killed people in this place, and now she stood there, empty, and wondered if he was right. He leaned into her, whispering in her ear. "Too much alike maybe." Her body reacted to his, and she stood and knew that he had found the same place she had. They stood there touching, but so far apart that they might as well been on different planets._

_Kyo took her hand and, for once in her life, Arisa Uotani didn't fight it._

Tohru was curled up next to Yuki, her head resting against his shoulder, eyes still closed with sleep. Yuki smiled down at her. They would be married in a few more weeks, and she would finally be his, forever. He was a prince in more than name alone it would seem. Next to him, Kyo was just a hot-tempered knight, just waiting to rush in and rescue whoever needed him. That's why Tohru had chosen him. Yuki was dependable, steady, and when he said he would love her forever, he meant it. Kyo couldn't really promise her anything. She loved them both, but it had been time for her to choose. Tohru frowned a little in her sleep and Yuki smoothed a finger gently against the wrinkle that formed just between her eyebrows. She worried too much; he planned on easing that worry out of her life. Yuki planned to take care of her as much as he could. He loved her, more than anything else in his world. His violet eyes disappeared behind his butterfly thin eyelids. Sleep captured them in a fabulous net of dreams, and they surrendered to it. Morning came all too soon for Yuki and Tohru, as the shuffling of the now overflowing household overwhelmed them, and demanded of them their unaltered attention.

"Tohru?" a voice asked from down the hall. It was Shigure's voice, and he sounded sleepy, and hungry.

Tohru's limited thought function yelled at her to get up and go cook things. So she did. She disentangled herself from Yuki and slipped out of the bed, and out the door toward the kitchen, humming to herself. Shigure watched her, blinking, from the end of the hall. Was that Tohru? Did she just come out of Yuki's room? Surely she hadn't spent the night. He blinked at her, without her knowing about it, and let the questions run around in his perverted little head. "We wonder." he muttered and tiptoed down the hall. He peered into Yuki's room, and wondered about the small smile on his mouth. Yep, she had slept here, but what else?

_Uo slid the memory that was left of Kyo shirt down his shoulders, and watched the pieces flutter to the floor like charred butterflies. Her eyes never meet his as she lapped at the wound at his throat and down his chest. She lapped at it, like a cat with cream, tongue leaving quick wet lines down the wound. She stopped when she couldn't get anymore without hitting her knees. That black dress slithered down her body, Kyo's hands trailing in its wake. He kissed her throat, and she realized that somewhere along the way this boy had gotten an education of the not so civil order. She wasn't expecting it when he pushed her backward onto the bed. He leaned over and pressed a line of hot kisses from her collarbone to her navel. He undid her shoes and tossed them to the side, and then he stood there, just watching her, taking in the strange perfection that was the Yankee. There was a scar under her belly button, a knife scar, apparently gotten in a fight that went wrong. Another scar ran down from her shoulder across her collarbone and ended just at the swell of her left breast. He resisted the urge to trace the line._

"_See something you like?" she asked, in that flat voice._

_Kyo undid the top button of his pants and if he had been wearing underwear, Uo never saw it. Her panties disappeared and he was on her, and in her, and insuring a sore morning, the next moment._

It was just after 3 in the morning when Kyo looked down at the girl that lay sleeping against his chest. He left his memories to pick up the screaming phone. It was the front desk, telling him that there was a phone call for him. "Patch it through." he muttered, wondering who in the hell would be calling him here. There were only three people that knew about this room, and all of them had found out accidentally. Shigure, Hatori and Yuki. They were the only people that knew. So it had to be one of them. Kyo hoped to everything holy that it wasn't Shigure. It wasn't Shigure, it was something worse.

"Lovely Kyo!" Aya's voice drifted through the phone at approximately the same noise level of a 747. Kyo winced and held the phone away from his ear. Uo blinked sleepy eyes at him.

"Why is Aya calling you?" she asked, "I thought we covered our asses with this one." Kyo smiled and pressed a kiss to her hair.

"How the fuck am I suppose to know? As soon as he stops squealing I'll ask."

Uo slide a hand across his chest, "I hope you don't make him squeal."

"Can I make you squeal?" There was a nasty glint in his eye as she grinned at him.

The Yankee slid out of the bed and slid to the bathroom, "Talk to Aya. I'm getting in the shower."

Kyo went back to the phone, "Shut up." he growled, thankful that he could mask his grin with his voice. Aya was silent for a moment, then started back in on him about Yuki and Tohru and something. Kyo stopped listening, "Ayame." there was no growl in his voice, just this deadness that was matched only by the monotones of Hana and Hatori. Aya shut up. "Tell me why you called. You have exactly 30 seconds." and Aya told him.

_Uo lay there, face down in the pillows, half glowing with that glorious laxness that comes only with afterglow. He was hard, ruthless, rough, and completely wonderful. He had the chilling organization of a serial killer in the cold calculated way he had taken her. Something fabulously sinister, but with an undertone of something greater, some promise of gentleness that he hadn't shown here. It was in the way his hand stayed on her thigh, in the way he smelled like blood and sex and chocolate, and in the way he didn't move when she rolled over. "Where were you?" she asked, voice a little raw._

_Kyo's eyes were closed, one hand fumbling in the bedside table for a smoke that he just knew he had left, he found one and lit up before answering, "Around."_

"_The details astound me." she said, sitting up and reaching for her underwear_

_Kyo watched her move, not out of love, or any other poetic notion, just for the lack of something better to do. "Does it matter?"_

"_Professional curiosity you might say." he watched her lift her hips and slide the panties back into place._

"_Curiosity killed the cat." Kyo dragged himself into a sitting position, talking around the cancer stick tuck between his lips. Uo reached over and dragged her nails down his chest, following the dotted line, so to speak. She leaned into him, stretching her body the length of his. "Satisfaction brought him back." her voice was breathy in his head. "There was some reason you came back; what is it?" she asked leaning back from him and slipping out of the bed._

Kyo sat there in that horrid motel bed smoking, as tradition dictated. Tohru had been the reason he came back, but Uo was the reason he stayed. He listened to the shower running and shook his head, half fascinated, half ashamed at the sheer coldness of that night. It had been a good, uncomplicated, vanilla kind of sex. But that's all that was there, just the sex and that coldness. Kyo's cinnamon eyes wandered over the room, then shut, and he wished she was back here. He listened to the shower run, and thought about the phone call. It was going to be a long night. Kyo let his mind roll and landed on the next memory in the line.

_Shigure had been looking for Uo when he came across a seeming abomination. Kyo was sitting in the bed still, sheets over his lap, watching, utterly dispassionate, as she dressed. Shigure opened the door, and saw the back of a tall blonde smoothing her skirt back into place against her thighs. The author's eyes took in the scene but his brain refused to process the information._

_The girl, woman, stood with her back to the door, blonde hair striking a sharp relief against the black of her dress. Kyo's eyes shifted off her to look at Shigure, there was nothing in them. If the eyes really were the windows to the soul, then Kyo's problem was that there was nobody home. "Kyo!" Shigure's voice was bright with surprise, "You're back, and with a conque..." the word died on his lips as Arisa Uotani turned to look at him with eyes blank as the winter skies. "Uo, what?" he looked from the girl to Kyo and back. "Do I even want to know?"_

"_NO!" The pair's shouted reply redoubled in his head._

"_It was a one time deal Gure." Uo commented blithely, slipping her heels back on. "It didn't mean anything. It was just a good, almost clean, uncomplicated fuck." Kyo sat silently watching the show._

_Shigure's eyes drifted over the groove in Kyo's chest, and the blood on Uo's hands. "Why am I not surprised. Lovely Kyo's into kinky sex" he sang out that last word "just wait 'til Aya hears about this." he danced a happy little dance as his voice singsonged through the small room. Kyo stood, crossed the distance between them and knocked his landlord on his ass. Shigure looked stunned as a strikingly naked Kyo glowered at him, he had skipped the preliminary yelling and ranting and moved right to the point, so to speak. "Get out." was the hoarse command, and Shigure almost took it upon himself to tease them about their voices, or lack there of. The author's mouth opened then shut as he stood, brushed himself off, and walked to the door, quirky little smirk still in place. "Settle down, put some pants on and clean up (though not necessarily in that order). I'll call Hatori; you'll need stitches."_

And so he had. He looked down at his chest and traced the scar that ran there with two fingertips. Most of it hadn't scared, just the part at his waist, the place were she had dug her fingers into the meat of him.

The shower shut off, and he smiled at Uo as she walked back into the room, towel wrapped precisely around her. Her blonde hair hung wetly to her shoulders, and her cheeks were pink with the heat of her shower. She moved around the room, picking up bits and pieces of clothing and sliding them on; she knew better than to whine, or beg, or any such diminutive things, she just put on her clothes and sat down next to him"What was the call about?" she asked finger combing her hair. 

Kyo rubbed the five o'clock shadow that clung relentlessly to his chin, and looked at her. "The cops where at Shigure's" his foot tapped restlessly against the floor as he stared intently at the floor.

"Shit." Uo ran her fingers through her hair again. "What for?"

Kyo's cinnamon eyes flashed in the dim light as he looked up at her, "They were looking for you."

Earth green eyes wrinkled in confusions, "What for?"

"Take you in for questioning." 

She watched him as he looked back at the floor, "Any charges?"

"Yea." 

She knelt in front of him on the dank carpet, "You wanna tell me what they are? And why you believe them?" His orange hair blocked her view of his eyes and she reached up to brush it back, "Whatever it was I didn't do it. Unless they're picking me up for shoplifting that pack of gum."

Kyo smiled, "Burglary, and aggravated assault." 

Uo's eyes shot wide, "The huh?"

"That's what they're charging you with, Hatori managed to pull some strings, so they're not going to be waiting outside or whatever. But he wants us home like two hours ago."

"Have they told Tohru yet?"

Kyo grinned and wrapped an arm around her waist, leaning against her back and resting his chin on her shoulder, "Use you're head. Would Tohru be awake at 3 in the fucking morning?"

"Jesus. Is that all?" she leaned back against him and wished for about 6 more hours of sleep.

Kyo chuckled softly. "They want us home." 

"Of course they do. Want to make sure it was little Miss Delinquent that did it." there was a hidden smile, but it was drowning in the bitterness of her voice. 

Kyo grinned too. "'Tori does have issues with those of who have criminal records." 

They sat very still, staring at each other across the gap and silently reviewing each other. Uo had a long history with the police; her gang activity, the hundreds of speeding tickets, a arrest (without conviction) for prostitution. There were probably more, the things that she hadn't been caught for. She had been the one who scratched Akito a year ago, walked right into a meeting and blew him away. 

Kyo shook his head "I wish I could have seen that." he muttered. 

Uo smiled, knowing exactly what he was thinking about. "It was messy. You didn't want to see it." Kyo's record was much shorter and far less interesting. Mostly just disorderly, sometimes drunk and, then there were a couple of failed assault charges, and his speeding ticket could hold their own against Uo's. 

Uo stood, "Come on then. Might as well get this over so I can go back to sleep." Kyo laughed and pulled on the shirt she threw at his head. It took them less than ten minutes to get loose of the motel and back into Yuki's car. Uo was driving after a brief scuffle in the parking lot and they were gone, their taillights glowing like two red butterflies disappearing into the night. 


	6. AN: REVAMPING!

Hey everybody, this is just a temporary post! 

For everyone who read this story FOREVER ago, I've decided that I want to finish it.

But I'm going to revamp a lot of the story, the previous plot line isn't really getting the relationship between Uo and Kyo to the right place. So I'm going to fix it.It wont be anything really extreme, just a different kind of problem for our lovely couple.

Chapters 1-5 are going to stay basically the same, but look for the introduction of the new plot line at the end of Ch 5!!

I hope to have chapters 6-8 up within the next month, but it depends on job stuff.

Thank you so much if you're coming back to this piece, and I'm sorry that it took so long for me to get back to this. Any new readers, I'm hoping to finish this in between 12 and 15 chapters, but its not plotted out, hopefully you'll be entertained by it.

Thanks much-

Gabby


End file.
